


New York, New York (Summer Lullaby)

by 221BroadwayIron



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Drabble, Gen, No Plot, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:46:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25534585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/221BroadwayIron/pseuds/221BroadwayIron
Summary: Specs sighed and let his eyes drift shut. From below wafted the quiet street sounds of a city that never sleeps: the faint jingle of a horse’s harness, two people calling to each other, the clatter of a cart over cobblestones…----------Or, on a hot summer’s night, Specs and the other newsies take refuge on the fire escape.
Kudos: 9





	New York, New York (Summer Lullaby)

**Author's Note:**

> Written in honor of how blazingly hot and humid it's been the last few days.

A hazy, half moon hung in the sky, wispy clouds drifting across its face. To Specs, both were fuzzy, like the reflection in a pond or the view through dirty glass. (Heaven knew he’d seen too few ponds and too many dirty windows in this city.) Inside the Lodging House, his glasses rested on the old chest of drawers where he’d left them.

It was too hot inside, far too hot with the room full of bunk beds and the beds full of boys, each one giving off their own sweaty body heat in the stuffy room. It had taken less than 15 minutes of laying there for the first ones to relocate. Some newsies stayed in their beds, too hot to get up, a few moved downstairs to the living room, and Jack and Crutchie had long since disappeared off to their rooftop. Most of the boys, though, had dragged themselves out the window and claimed spots scattered across the rusty fire escape in the hopes of catching the tail of a rare breeze.

The folded blanket sandwiched between his body and the metal grating of the fire escape was not as comfortable as Specs’ bed (which wasn’t _particularly_ comfortable to begin with), but it was cooler. Outside, at least, the air was moving a little, and it was enough to make the heat just this side of bearable.

Specs sighed and let his eyes drift shut, blocking out the distant smudges of the stars. His shirt lay in an abandoned heap next to him. The air ghosted over his bare chest and wove into damp blonde curls. From below wafted the quiet street sounds of a city that never sleeps: the faint jingle of a horse’s harness, two people calling to each other, the clatter of a cart over cobblestones…

Specs took another deep, slow breath, pulling warm air into his lungs. “Finch?” he called softly, without opening his eyes.

“Hmm?” Finch responded in a lazy voice. He was spread-eagled on his stomach, occupying half of the fire escape landing, stripped down to only his drawers and still shimmering with sweat. Both his pants and his shirt had been wadded up under his head as a makeshift pillow.

“D’ya wanna go ta the docks ta swim tomorra’ once we’se done sellin’?”

“Sure…” Finch yawned audibly. “Business’ll be awful anyways if’n it’s still this hot.”

“Snipes?” Specs asked, still not lifting his head though his eyes had slipped back open to squint at the other boys.

“Wha’?” Both of the twins turned to face him from where they’d been having a whispered conversation on the steps.

“We’se goin’ swimmin’. Yous wanna come?”

They grinned identical crooked smiles, and Mush winked. “You bet’cha,” they replied in unison.

“Great.”

Specs let his eyelids slide shut again; it was too much work to keep them open. The air tickling his sunburnt face felt nice. Some one on the next landing up was snoring, though he couldn’t tell who with his eyes closed. Maybe Elmer? It mingled with the murmur of Mush and Sniper’s voices and with the noise of the street to form a sort of soothing summer lullaby.

A city lullaby.

  
  


_El fin_.

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I'm way late to the Newsies fandom, but better late than never! Here's to hoping it cools off soon!


End file.
